


Last Friday Night

by multifanfictual



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22091023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifanfictual/pseuds/multifanfictual
Summary: One-shot to tide over the S3 feels. Marinette and Adrien hang out alone and he starts to realize she's not just a friend. *PURE PG FLUFF, DESPITE WHAT THE TITLE IMPLIES!* This was written for the Miraculous Ladybug Holidays Fanfiction Exchange for u/Wania_Ahmed on Reddit.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 3
Kudos: 108





	Last Friday Night

Marinette was late. 

Again.

But really, who could blame her? Most girls her age were struggling to balance their time, and they didn’t even have to factor in being one of the saviors of Paris. Between studying, discreetly helping Alya with the Ladyblog, and fighting akumatized victims on a regular basis, she barely stopped to breathe. She really had to wonder how Hawkmoth and Mayura had so much stamina, because even with the help of Chat Noir and several rotational heros, she was absolutely beat.

So here poor Marinette was, having overslept on yet another Monday morning, sprinting down the street like a maniac to make it before the bell. She thanked her good luck that at least akuma fighting kept her in amazing shape, or she would be toast. After almost getting run over by several miffed drivers, stopping once or twice to fix her pigtails, and tripping more times than should be expected from a healthy young girl, she finally made it to François Dupont in one piece, basket of apology croissants for Mademoiselle Bustier in tow. 

The bell loudly chimed just as Marinette burst through the door and dropped the basket onto the teacher’s desk. “Mademoiselle Bustier, I am so sorry!” she huffed. “My alarm didn’t go off correctly, my dad needed help in the bakery, and there was a problem with the traffic lights on that one busy street… What is it called? Oh, I knowー”

“Marinette,” the teacher gently interjected with a smile. “It’s quite alright. I know you have a good reason for being late. Besides, you came in right on the bell.” She curiously lifted the cloth covering the croissants. “My, aren’t these lovely?” she exclaimed. “They’re just so delicious, there’s no way I can keep them all to myself. Class, you are all welcome to come take a croissant! And don’t forget to thank Marinette for this wonderful treat!”

The room erupted into cheers and staggered rounds of thanks to Marinette as everyone clambered to get one of Monsieur Dupain’s legendary croissants. That is, except for Chloe, who predictably turned her nose and rambled about her new diet regimen to nobody’s interest, and her only friend by her side. Marinette felt pity for Sabrina, the abused girl only able to stare longingly at the croissants from a distance. She made a mental note to wrap one up for her if there were any extra and sneak it to her after school.

The class eventually settled down, students happily munching their croissants in their seats. Adrien in particular, Marinette couldn’t help but noticing with a blush, looked like he was in heaven. “Marinette, these are amazing,” he gushed, turning around in his seat to face her. “If I had access to these every day, I don’t think I would be able to eat anything else!”

“I-it is pretty great,” Marinette admitted. “My parents do most of the work, but I like to help out whenever I can.”

“ _ But  _ it means I get even less time with my best friend,” Alya whined. “Seriously, girl, I feel like I never see you anymore.”

“I know, I know,” Marinette sighed. “I feel that way too. Hey, why don’t you come over on Friday? The bakery is closed Saturday for a conference my parents are going to, so we’re slowing it down a day early.”

“Really?” Alya said, perking up. “That would be great! But…” Marinette gulped at the mischievous gleam that appeared in her eye. She knew that look all too well. “It would be such a bummer if I had to ditch Nino. Can he pretty please tag along?” She batted her eyes, disguising the pointed look she shot her boyfriend.

Trapped with no warning as usual, Nino chuckled nervously, adjusting his hat. “Well, I guess I could come since my DJ gig got cancelled,” he replied, sending a quick apology glance to Marinette.

Of course, Marinette knew where this was really going, but she still felt the ground give way as Alya added, “And so if Nino is coming, it really wouldn’t be fair to leave our dear, wonderful friend Adrien behind…”

Unable to resist the hopeful smile that popped up on Adrien’s face at the suggestion, Marinette felt herself melt and give in. “Sure,” she said. “ Adrien can come too. We can all walk there after school.”

“Awesome!” Adrien said, grin spreading from ear to ear. “My father is pleased after I did well at my photoshoot last week, so I’m sure Nathalie can help me convince him to let me go. You’re such a great friend, Marinette.”

Before Marinette could begin silently berading Alya for getting her stuck in this situation, Mademoiselle Bustier finally called the class to begin.  _ She couldn’t have done that two minutes ago?  _ Marinette thought to herself. The teacher’s voice faded out as she thought about her weekend plans. Her house. Friday. Adrien. Adrien. ADRIEN.

Boy, was Tikki going to hear a mouthful about this.

  
  


After countless hours of Marinette obsessing over tiny details and rearranging her room to remove even the smallest traces of her crush on Adrien  _ just in case  _ he happened to wander up, Friday, or DoomsDay, as Marinette had begun to call it, finally arrived. The kitchen was in pristine shape, her video games were organized for entertainment while the croissants baked, and her parents were under strict orders to cease all meddling. She logically knew that she was as ready as she would ever be. 

But she was still freaking out.

At least she would have her best friend by her side for support, although it was Alya who got her into the whole mess in the first place. Nonetheless, this was the mantra she chanted in her head all day. By the time school was over and the group was meeting up, Marinette was almost looking forward to it. Maybe. Just a tiny bit. Possibly. Until…

“I can’t make it,” Alya whined. To anybody else, her dismayed expression would look genuine, but Marinette saw the twinkle in her eye. She knew better.

“W-what? No! You can’t- I mean- what happened?” she stammered.

“A last minute work thing came up for my mom,” Alya replied, still keeping up her act. “She needs me to watch the twins. But at least Nino can still come.”

Nino.  _ Nino.  _ Alya must have corrupted him, too. Marinette’s guts begin to twist as she saw her inescapable fate.

And, just on cue, Nino arrived with his own excuse. “DJ gig rescheduled. Sorry, Marinette,” he said with an unconvincing grimace.

“Bummer,” Adrien said with an oblivious frown. “Well, you’ve still got me! A miracle my father agreed to let me go. His good moods don’t come around often, you know.” He gave a smile, but Marinette’s heart ached not for his perfect teeth, but the saddening implication behind that statement. “Ready to go?” he added, snapping her out of it.

“R-ready!” Marinette squeaked.

Alya was in for it now.

  
  


The walk home from school had never felt so long.

Marinette was surprised she made it without confessing her love to Adrien or running away. How did Alya expect her to focus and have a normal conversation when he was right there, just an inch away, smelling like his signature cologne, looking at her with that perfect smile and perfect hair and perfect nose and perfect lips and oh my gosh what would it feel like to kiss those lips would he ever even want to kiss my lips how can somebody be this perfect and一

Ohhhhhhhhh, boy. Head rush.

By the time the pair entered the bakery, Marinette didn’t think she would ever sleep again. She had too many memories of Adrien to even consider it. Unless, of course, he appeared in her dreams.

PLEASE, let him appear in her dreams.

“Adrien, welcome to our bakery!” Tom boomed, shaking her out of her stupor. He swooped the unsuspecting boy into an aggressively strong hug, then pushed away and placed his massive hands on his shoulders. “We’ve simply heard so much about you!”  _ No!  _ Marinette gave a cut-off signal from behind Adrien’s back. “I mean- uh- we’ve READ so much about you, you know, in the magazines and all… no rest for the famous, I suppose-”

Sabine placed a hand on his shoulder, calming her husband into drifting off. “It’s very nice to meet you, Adrien,” she said with a serene smile, shaking his hand gently. “I hope you enjoy your time in our home.” 

“Thank you, Madame Cheng,” Adrien replied. “Thank you so much for having me.”

Sabine took Tom’s hand and gave him a pointed look. “Honey, why don’t we go upstairs and leave these two be?”

“Oh- yes, yes, right!” Tom stumbled. “Hope to see you again soon, Adrien!” he called out as he was dragged up the stairs.  
Marinette’s heart flip-flopped as she came to terms with the reality of being alone with Adrien. He, however, remained oblivious to her nerves buzzing in the air, contentedly running his curious hand along neatly lined sacks of flour and sugar. “It’s so cool that your parents own a bakery, Marinette,” he said. “I wish I lived here.”

“Me too,” Marinette sighed dreamily. Adrien looked at her. “I meanー you knowーI, uhー would love that for you, too! Not that I love YOU, n-no, see, I would love THAT for you, justー you know, as a friend, I want you toー” She gave up. “Yeah, it’s awesome.”

Ignoring the confession hidden in her rambling, or really just naïve as usual, Adrien simply smiled. “So, what do you want to do? If I remember, you’re quite the gamer… ” 

Marinette laughed nervously. “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” she managed. “You like Mega Mecha Strike, right?”

“Of course!” Adrien scoffed, feigning offense. Ever the gentleman, he gestured politely for Marinette to lead the way up the stairs. Giggling, she barely managed to stumble up the stairs without tripping and falling.

Key word:  _ barely _ .

“So…” Adrien began to fill the silence as Marinette was setting up the game. “I’m really glad we’re getting to spend this time together.”

Marinette started with a jump. “Y-you are?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, looking down. “It’s just… well, you’ll probably think this is really stupid, but… for a long time I… thought you hated me.”

“H- _ hated _ ?” 

“Yeah. Now, after getting to know you better, I see it was just paranoia or somethingー I mean, you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. You’re not capable of hating anybody, even Chloe.” He smiled lightly.  _ Pretty off,  _ Marinette thought,  _ but okay.  _ “But still, it’s nice to… get to talk… alone.” He reddened. “I meanー as friends, of course! It’s nice to talk alone as.. as friends.”  _ What’s wrong with you?  _ Adrien chided himself.  _ Marinette is just a very good friend… _

_ Isn’t she? _

Marinette gulped in a lame attempt to swallow down a scream. “Y-yeah,” she nearly whispered. “I feel the same way.”

The two stood there, locking eyes, never breaking the contact. Their breathing became synchronized, neither of them sure what came next. Marinette snapped to first as she remembered where they were.

“MEGA MECHA STRIKE!” a cheesy voice boomed from the television. “CHOOSE YOUR PLAYERS!”

“L-looks like the game finished loading…” Marinette mumbled. “I… guess we should play now?”

“R-right,” Adrien agreed shakily, mustering up a weak smile.

As unbearable as the previous minutes had been, as the two began to play, Marinette felt all the tension fading out. She was in the zone. Sure, she was a great baker, an aspiring fashionista, and basically friends with Jagged Stone, but sometimes, she had to wonder if video games were her true calling. Nothing existed but the television screen as her character kicked, spun, and attacked. “NO!” she cried out as Adrien’s character tossed her aside. Losing sight, she jumped to her feet. “GO! GO! GO! GET HIM! COME ON, COME ON….. YES!” Marinette hollered, celebrating her victory.

That is, until she remembered who she was with.

“Adrien!” Marinette squeaked, wishing she were six feet underground. “I’m so sorry… I get really competitive, I know it’s annoying-”

“No!” Adrien said quickly, cutting her off. “It’s totally fine. Actually…” He scratched his head, looking away as a blush bloomed on his cheeks. “Actually, I think it’s kinda cute.”

Cute. Cute. Cute!  _ Adrien just called me cute! _ Marinette thought in a panic. Frozen by shock, all she could do was stare into his green eyes. And maybe she was imagining it, but it seemed he was lost in her eyes too.  _ And oh my gosh, was he leaning in?  _ In a daze, Marinette felt herself drawn to him, closing her eyes and drifting forward-

“WHO WANTS SOME ORANGE JUICE?” Tom thundered, crashing through the door with his giant might. He lumbered into the living room obliviously, juice sloshing in the gallon clutched in his fist, and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Marinette and Adrien, fiercely blushing inches apart on the couch.

“I mean…” he stuttered. “What’s that? Sabine, honey? Are you calling me? I think she’s calling me. G-gotta go!” He bolted from the room.

“I-I- Marinette, I am  _ so _ sorry,” Adrien blurted as soon as Tom’s bolstrous steps receded. I don’t know what got into me just now. I’m so sorry if I made you uncomfortable, or I ruined our friendship completely, or-or-”

“It’s okay,” Marinette murmured sweetly. 

“Really?”

She smiled. “Really.”

And just like that, all the heat returned to the room. All their surroundings blurred. The lights dimmed, the annoying video game announcer voice blasting through the speakers faded into silence, the awkwardness of the past few minutes dissipated into nothing. All that existed was Marinette, Adrien, and the thumping of their beating hearts. Acting as one, they both sucked in a quiet breath, and-

_ Briiiiiiing!  _ Just like that, the world returned once more, brought back by the piercing sound of Adrien’s cell phone ringing.

Never looking away from Marinette’s eyes, he picked it up. “Hello?” Pause. “I’m at Marinette’s house.” Pause. “Yes.” Pause. “Yes.” Pause. “Okay. Bye.” He sighed as he hung up the call.

“My father is at a shoot today, and one of their models just got sick. He offered me to fill in. I’m so sorry… I have to leave.”

Burying her disappointment, Marinette forced a smile. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’ll walk you out.”

The air hung thick as the duo trudged down the stairs and to the front of the quiet bakery. Marinette opened the door for Adrien. “T-thanks for coming,” she choked out. “I- had a really good time.”

Adrien smiled. “Yeah, me too. See you later.”

“See you.”

Marinette closed the door and sighed, leaning her back against it.  _ What was she going to do?  _ She felt the urge to run, to transform into Ladybug and roam the streets searching for an answer. Suddenly, like it had come to her front door, she felt a knock.

Marinette opened the door to find Adrien standing there, out of breath. “Adrien, w-why are you here? Did you leave something? I can help you look-”

With no warning, he gently cupped her face and kissed her swiftly on both cheeks. “Thank you,” he said simply, then swiftly ran back into his chauffeured car and drove off.

_ It was only on the cheek. It was only on the cheek. It was only on the cheek.  _ This was Marinette’s mantra as she tried to explain everything to herself. And it was a French custom, right? Totally normal, right? But she and Adrien had never, EVER greeted or parted ways with a double kiss.. and maybe it was her imagination, but it was more intimate than she had ever experienced it. Sweating, she didn’t even glance at her contacts, dialing the number she needed by heart.

Millions of Parisians stopped to marvel as Alya’s resounding scream swept through the streets of Paris.

  
  


Through the hustle and bustle of the photoshoot, Adrien didn’t have time to stop and process what had happened at Marinette’s house. Why the air was so heavy. Why he almost kissed her. Why he wanted to stay forever. Why he went back and kissed her on both cheeks.

Why he so wished it was on her lips instead.

No, he had more important things to do. Responsibilities. Duties. Besides, Marinette was just a really good friend…

Wasn’t she?

By the time Adrien even got home, he had repeated this to himself so many times he thought it was finally sticking. After all, he didn’t want to ruin his friendship with Marinette. He had almost come close today, despite what she said. He ignored Plagg’s questions and flopped into bed, too tired to answer him. Not before tossing Plagg some extra bribery Camembert to keep quiet, of course.

That night, Adrien dreamed the same dreams as usual. Inky blue-black hair. Startlingly blue eyes. Soft, pink lips. A dazzling smile. He woke up that morning and huffed contentedly, positive that whatever stupid thing had happened with Marinette was out of the way, just a glitch. Nothing would ruin their friendship.

It wasn’t until Monday morning, as he greeted his friends and saw a familiar face, that he realized the girl in his dreams wasn’t wearing a mask.

  
  



End file.
